Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Every year thousands of tons of garbage winds up in the oceans, with 60% of that being composed of plastic material. Plastics especially last a very long time in the ocean, and are in such abundance that there are 46,000 individual pieces of plastic litter for every square mile of ocean.

Plastics are very hazardous to marine life, killing more than a million birds and over 100,000 seals, turtles, and whales, and an immense number of fish in our ocean.

While scientists, inventors, governments and agencies try to figure out how to clean up the estimated millions of tons of garbage already in the ocean, the rest of us can help staunch the flow by participating in International Coastal Cleanup Day.

Held every year on the third Saturday of September, Coastal Cleanup Day encourages us to get out to our beaches and help to limit this problem by cleaning up the garbage that has washed up on shore, and that left by visitors every day.

Established by the Ocean Conservancy, an organization that works to help protect the ocean from the challenges it faces every year, International Coastal Cleanup has become the world's largest volunteer effort for ocean health.

For nearly three decades, volunteers with Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup have picked up everything imaginable along the world's shorelines: cigarette butts, food wrappers, abandoned fishing gear and even automobiles and kitchen appliances.

Trash in the water impacts the world on many levels, including harming wildlife, humans, and impacting the livelihood of those who work on the ocean. It causes economic damage by affecting tourism and recreation and the money they bring into those communities.

Here in Puerto Vallarta, the Municipal Department of Environment and Ecology will lead the city's Coastal Cleanup efforts. On Saturday, September 17th, beach clean ups will take place on Playas Camarones, Los Muertos, La Mona, Holi and Boca de Tomates, starting at 8:00 am. As the city will be providing all of the necessary tools for the cleanup, volunteers should call 322-182-3134 to let the Ecology Dept. know how many people will be participating, and on which beach.

Coastal Cleanup Day is your chance to really make a difference in Puerto Vallarta. Please help spread the word so others can do the same! For more information, call 322-182-3134.